Press TV - A group of activists in the United States and other countries have signed a petition, calling on European countries to boycott an anti-Iran summit set to be hosted by Washington in Poland next month.

The activists have started the petition on the website of the anti-war group Code Pink to ask European countries not to attend the summit announced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose aim “will be to set the stage for an unnecessary conflict with Iran.”

More than 3,000 people have so far signed the online petition, which urges EU countries to skip Pompeo’s “belligerent conference” and “instead host an alternative one with all nations of the region, including Iran.”

The summit, the petition says, is part of Washington’s pressure campaign against Iran following its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement and re-imposition of sanctions, describing the nuclear deal as “a major step forward for peace and security in the Middle East.”

“Instead of a summit to confront Iran, we need the world to pressure the United States to reenter the Iran nuclear deal after [President Donald] Trump’s unilateral withdrawal and to lift the devastating sanctions it has imposed on Iran,” the petition reads.

“It is the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the long-negotiated agreement and its increased hostility towards Iran that have added to the instability of the region and are threatening to unleash another devastating war in the Middle East,” it added

It went on to says that the US is “fanning the flames of conflict,” arguing, “Since European countries are still a party to the Iran nuclear agreement and want to improve relations with Iran, it would not make sense for Europe to participate in a conference hostile to Iran.”

“We urge you to host an alternative gathering with all Middle Eastern nations, including Iran, to stop terrorism and end wars, including the catastrophic war in Yemen,” the petition said.

Pompeo said on Friday that Washington will jointly host a global summit focused on Iran and the Middle East in Warsaw from February 13 to 14. Pompeo said the meeting would "focus on Middle East stability and peace, freedom and security here in this region, and that includes an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence."

Iran has expressed its strong protest at the planned summit, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denouncing it as a “desperate anti-Iran circus.”